


Another Round (pt.2)

by allixiler



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allixiler/pseuds/allixiler
Summary: He loses a case, but she's there to comfort him.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Original Female Character(s), Rafael Barba/Reader, Rafael Barba/You
Kudos: 13





	Another Round (pt.2)

The next few weeks passed by casually. Your job continued as it always did. New customers as well as your regulars came in for drinks for all kinds of reasons. You didn’t even know it was possible, but you were now enjoying your job so much more than you already did. Especially knowing that Rafael would be in every week. You weren’t sure if it was a coincidence or not, but he seemed to be coming in more and more often.

You had to admit, you were growing rather fond of him and very quickly to say the least. Suddenly, you found yourself hoping to see him every time the door to the bar opened. Every straight scotch you served to other customers was known in your mind as “Rafael’s usual”. You had a connection with him that you wanted to explore. Which is why you had taken him up on his offer. The morning after your first real encounter with him, you sent him a simple text. It didn’t establish anything serious. It was just a plain “good morning” text with a little sweet message thanking him for taking the time from his busy workload to chat with you. 

You had expected to get a response later that afternoon, considering that his mornings were probably extremely hectic. However, you were pleasantly surprised when you received a reply only a few short minutes after. He returned the thanks and began a little small talk conversation along with a few more get to know you questions to break the through-the-screen ice. It wasn’t until the next day that you began discussing plans to possibly get dinner sometime. He wasn’t shy to admit that he wanted to take you on a proper date once things settled down within the case he was still plugging away at. 

Your schedules differed heavily. You worked ungodly late hours and he was never really off the clock. If he was working, you were off and if you were working, he was semi-off. So, for now, your in person interactions were limited to the bar you considered your second home. That was fine for now, but eventually you’d tire of only seeing him at your place of work. You couldn’t wait until this case was over. 

He had mentioned briefly in one of your text conversations that in many aspects of his life, his work was above all else. You didn’t love that statement for a couple of reasons. For starters, how would that affect your relationship if you decided to pursue something serious? Secondly, how serious was he willing to take things between you and him? And lastly, that made you extremely worried for him as a whole. You couldn’t imagine always feeling like the bottom could drop out at any given moment. You wondered how many forgotten dinners and lovers he had previously.

Despite your concerns, the way you felt about him seemed to outweigh anything else. A testament to this was when he walked into the bar around 9:00 PM on Thursday night. It was particularly busy for a regular weekday. Naturally, Fridays and Saturdays were when you were slammed with customers. You usually had to have a partner behind the bar with you to stay on top of things. You were busy, but not so much that you failed to see him enter through the door.

You smiled brightly, a warm sensation tingling through your limbs. Your smile was quick to fade, however, when you saw his drooped shoulders and blank expression. You were puzzled at this, because he had been perfectly fine earlier in the day. He took an available seat at the middle of the bar, offering a slight smile once you were able to tend to him.

“Hey, Rafael,” You greeted cheerily, but with a worried tone; “You okay?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was caught to the TV that was above you. The late night news was on and your heart sank at the headline. Barba had lost the case he had been working on for so long. He buried his face into his palms and groaned;

“Turn it off. Change the channel. Anything, please.” He begged.

You reached for the remote under the bar, switching to some Thursday night NFL game. The other men in the bar cheered at the sight, which was good because they’d be content until their beers emptied out. You had a couple minutes until then.

“I’m sorry, Raf.” You comforted.

His heart skipped a beat at the use of his nickname, but even that wasn’t enough to boost his spirits. He shook his head in defeat, watching as you poured him a scotch straight without any previous instruction.

“I really thought we had it. I really did,” He confessed, taking the glass into his hand; “I should have won. The damn defense can go to hell for all I care.”

You shifted your weight onto one hip, hand pressed, and arm extended against the bar. What else were you supposed to say? You didn’t have much experience with lawyers fresh off of a hard loss. He looked so tired and so empty. His hair was tousled out of its usual neatness. The dark circles under his eyes were much more prominent. Overall, he just looked so...disappointed.

“Rafael,” You began to say, stunned at how hard he was beating himself up; “You’re better than this. You’ve told me before, these things happen.”  
It was true. The week after he had asked you about your favorite story, you decided to cautiously ask him about his. Shockingly, it was the first case that he had lost as an attorney. Of course, he had not wanted to lose. Not even at all. But he told you how he worked sun up to sun down to make sure the defendant went down for what he did. In the end, the guy walked free. As discouraged as he was, he explained how he learned a lot about life just by that experience alone. He told how he suddenly realized that there were two sides to his profession. One of them was never pretty.

He sipped his scotch, eyes trained on the amber colored liquid as he let it swirl around the sides and splash back into the center. His head was lowered as he let himself become consumed with what ifs.

“Please, listen to me,” You requested softly. You continued once his eyes were on you; “You did absolutely everything you could. This isn’t a reflection of your abilities as a counselor.”

He was quick with his answer, but no change to his expression;

“Isn’t it, though?” He asked.

“No, it’s not. One loss doesn’t-”

You were interrupted by a loud voice calling for a refill at the other side of the bar. Looks like your couple minutes were up. You put your conversation on pause, briskly walking to the man with the empty beer mug. 

“Same as before?” You questioned the man with a hospitable smile. 

He confirmed your question as refilled his mug as well as the other men in need of refills. Rafael watched intently as you interacted with the other customers. You had quite the undeniable charm and outgoing personality. No wonder you had so many regular customers. He had been thinking about you pretty much every free second he had. He wanted to learn all about you. He was amazed with how content you were with working at a bar. Customer service workers? Not always the happiest people on the planet. 

He adored your positivity. He couldn’t wrap his head around how caring you were towards complete strangers that walked into your bar everyday. How you were able to know when someone had a terrible burden on their conscience was a mystery to him. He found himself wondering if you ever took the time to check on and take care of yourself. How did you handle the weight of the problems of others that you took on without hesitation?

You returned to Rafael shortly after;

“As I was saying: one loss doesn’t define you. You’ll move on from this with time. You’ll heal with it. Then you’ll be ready to bury the next guy.” You encouraged.

For the first time all day, Rafael offered a real smile. One that was like a window to see into the real man with a heart of gold. He was an amazing human being. If only everyone could be like him.

“You have a lot of faith in a man just coming from a brutal loss.” He stated.

You grinned;

“Of course. I have the utmost confidence in my favorite counselor.” 

His cheeks went red at your kind words. As incompetent as he felt in this moment, hearing you so proud of him was heartwarming. You refilled his empty glass and tended to the other customers at the bar for a few minutes. He watched as you bounced expertly from person to person, mixing drinks like you did it in your sleep. As the even later hours were approaching, the more and more your conversation was being interrupted. Your busy part of the shift was coming fast, so he had to act fast.

“When is your next night off?” Rafael asked over the loud hum of the now crowded bar.

You had a shaker in one hand and a glass in the other, your eyes darted to the ceiling in thought before responding;

“Sunday. Why?” You replied back, hoping he was about to ask what you thought he was about to.

“How about dinner on Sunday? Just you and me.” He offered a real date.

Your smile returned brighter than ever as you poured the drink from the shaker into the glass;

“Sure. 6:30?” You suggested.

He grimaced, but gave a rebuttal back;

“How about 7:00?” 

“Deal. It’s a date,” You agreed; “Italian?”

He shrugged;

“Fine by me,” He smiled; “See you then.”

You nodded, dancing over to the opposite end of the bar to continue working. Whether it was the rush from all the customers around the bar or the joy from finally being able to go on a date, your heart was racing in your chest. He exited the bar after smiling at you once more and leaving a tip. He walked down the sidewalk away from your bar, head full and heart happy. He left you behind with a hard blush along with your bottles, glasses, cups, and more. 

It was just the beginning for the counselor and his favorite bar tech.


End file.
